The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-02-23

For how much would yon come out
on the most dangerous peak Of the Matter
horn and wave your capi You say: NO
money could induce me to do it And yet
you stand to-day, with one foot Oh a crumb-
ling moment and the other foot lifted. not
knowing where you viii put it down, while
the distance between you and the bottom of
the depth beneath you no plummet can
measure, no arithmetic calculate no
wing of lightning cleave And yet, the
Bible tells us that unless a man
has new heart be cannot get into
heaven: and some of you are not seeking for
that new heart In Mexico, sometimes the
ground suddenly opens, and man standing
near the gap can see down an appalling dis
lance. Bot. o. if to-day, at your feet, there
should open the chasms of the lost world, how
You would fling yourself back and hold the
pew. and cry: 'God save me-nowi nowl
nowI'
greet you to-day, my brother, in the very
gate of eternity. Some of US may live a
longer and some of US may live a shorter
time; but, at the longest, life Is SO short that
feel we all stand on the doorsill of the great
future. The next step-all the angels of God
cannot undo the consequences. VIII your
exit from this life be rising or a fallinga
The righteous go Up. The Saviour helps them.
Ministering spirits meet them The doors of
paradise open to receive them Up! upi upl o,
a grand thing it is to die with a strong faith
In God, like that which Stonewall jackson
had, when, in his expiring moments, he said:
SIet us cross over the river, and lie down
under the shaden But to leave this world
unpreparedly is falling-falIing from God,
falling from hope, falling from peace, falling
from heaven-sv@stly falling, wildly falling,
forever falling. So it was with one who had
been eminent for his intelligence, but who
had omitted all preparation for the future
world, and had come down to his last
hour. He said to his wife, seated by
the bedside: ~Oh, don't talk to me about
pain; it is the mind, woman, it is the mindl
of all the years of my life, never lived one
minute for heaven. 1t is awfully dark here"
be whispered, "it is awfully dark | seem to
stand ON the slippery edge of a great gulf.
shall fall! / am fallingln And with a Shrek,
as when a man tumbles over a precipice, he
expired Wise for this world about all
the matters Of his immortal soul he was, his
life long, playing the fool.
l will take the case of some one in the
building to-day and ask you what you think
about that case. He has been all his life
amid Bibles and churches, so that he knows
his duty. Christ has offered to do all for
that man that a Divine Saviour can offer to
do for dying soul. Heaven has been offered
him, yea, been pushed upon him, and yet be
| has not accepted it, and to-day he sits de-
| liberately allowing his chances for life to go
| away from him What do you say of that
onea "Hallucinated," says one; "Monoma-
| niacal," says another; playing the fool,
says another. o. how many there are taking
! just that positions There is such a thing as
J pyromania, an insanity which disposes one to
| destroy buildings by fire; but who would have
| thought that there was a pyromania of the
| immortal nature, and that any one could be
SO struck through with that insanity as to
have a desire and disposition to consume the
soul.
| Awake, mani awake, womanl from the
| phantasia, real or affected. Take Christ
| Escape for eternity. Just see what has beer
done for you. Lift the thorny cap from the
brow of Jesus, and see the price that was paiG
| for your liberation. Look at the side, and SCI
where the spear went in and moved round
and round, amid broken arteries, the BLOOD
rushing forth>in awful sacrifice for your sins
o, wrap those bare and mutilated feet of the
| dying Lord in your womanly lap, for they were
| torn in q hard tramp for your souli o, fol
| tears to weep over this liberation of Christ
| Q, for broken heart to worship Himl o
for an omnipotent impulse strong enough t.
throw this whole audience down at the fee
of crucifed and risen JeSusl We must re
pent. We must believe. We must be saved
| cannot consent to have you lose your souls
Come with me, and as in the summer TIM
we go down to the beach and BATH
in the waters, SO to-day let us join hand
and wade down into the summary sea o
Gods forgiveness. Roll over us, tides o
everlasting love, roll over usl Dear Lord
we knock at the door of mercy, not as the de
mented knock, not knowing what they want
but knocking at the door of mercy becaus
we want to come in, while others run thei
meaningless hands up and down the panel
and scrabble at the gate, in the presence o
God and men and angels and devils playing
| he fool